The
scenes that open and close Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips are what elevate
the film above the level of a typical thriller. For the vast majority of its
running time, Captain Phillips is the type of intelligent, intense, well-crafted
thriller that we have come to expect from Greengrass since his breakthrough
film Bloody Sunday (2002) – through his 9/11 film United 93 (2006), the second
and third Bourne movies, and his Iraq war film Green Zone. Greengrass is one of
the few directors who is able to use handheld camera work and rapid fire
editing, and still keep everything clear for an audience. Where someone like
Michael Bay often tries to do the same thing, the result is often action
sequences that are incoherent – but I have never felt that way in a Greengrass
movie. He uses the same approach in Captain Phillips – and it’s even more
effective here than in his previous films. But as good as the majority of the
runtime of the movie is, it really remains the opening and closing of the film
that deepens the work as a whole – and makes it into more than just a well
done, intense thriller.

The
story of Captain Phillips is well known by now. He was the Captain of an
American cargo ship – the Alabama Maersk – in 2009, when off the coast of
Somalia, his boat is attacked by two skiffs containing four, armed Somali
pirates. They are able to outflank the pirates on their first attempt, but the
next day when they try again, they are unable to do so. The four men board the
ship, and because no one on the ship is armed, they quickly take over. The
majority of the crew hides below deck, while Phillips and his officers are
stuck in the control room with the pirates. They don’t just want the $30,000
they have on board – they think that taking over an American ship should net
them millions. After an intense few hours, the pirates agree to leave the ship
in the rickety, enclosed lifeboat – but take Phillips with them. The Marines
are called in – one way or another, Phillips and his captors are not going to
reach Somalia.

Because
Greengrass cast Tom Hanks as Phillips, we know almost immediately that he is a
good guy – but Greengrass establishes this anyway in the opening scene, where
his wife (Catherine Keener) drives him to the airport. As they drive, they talk
about the worries they have for their children – whether they’ll work hard
enough in school, whether they’ll find a good job, etc. Everything seems to
move so fast, and is so competitive, that they worry their kids won’t have the
same advantages they had. Greengrass then does an interesting – and bold thing
– as he cuts immediately from Phillips and his wife, to Muse (Barkhad Abdi),
the leader of the pirates who will take over his ship, in Somalia. Just like
Greengrass immediately establishes sympathy and humanity with Phillips in his
brief opening scene, he does the same thing for Muse and the other pirates in
Somalia. What choice do these men have, other than to do what they do? They are
ruled by brutal warlords who demand they go out and make money. If they don’t,
they’re doomed anyway. Right off the bat, Greengrass has established the
complex moral world his movie takes place in by establishing the humanity of
all the players. This will not just be an easy thriller about good guys and bad
guys, but something far more complex.

The
film is impeccably made by Greengrass. Normally, I don’t like the shaky
handheld camera work, and rapid fire editing that Greengrass specializes in.
However, I do think that Greengrass uses it better than any other director
working right now – and here, it aids him immensely in his storytelling. As the
majority of the action takes place in the small lifeboat, which rocks over the
waves in the ocean, and the shaky camera work places us right alongside the
characters – it immerses us in the situation, and helps to generate tension
throughout.

The
film is also aided immensely by the performances – particularly those by Hanks
and Abdi. Abdi is a newcomer, who is asked to hold his own next to Hanks – and
he is more than up to the task. His Muse is intelligent and thoughtful – more
so than his accomplices, two of whom seem like little more than scared kids,
and the third who is more brutal and violent. To him, this is a business
transaction – nothing more – and while he is not above using violence, he
doesn’t see much point in it if it can be helped. It is a dynamic debut
performance. Hanks is one of the most likable, and relatable actors in movie
history, and his Captain Phillips makes the most of the association we have with
the actor before walking into the theater. His Phillips is heroic, but in a
more subdued way than most heroes in a thriller would be. He does what he can
to protect his crew once they have been boarded, and he even does what he can
to help the pirates themselves on the boat. He doesn’t want anyone to die, but
he knows full well that if the pirates don’t give up, they will be doomed – and
they may well take him with him. It is a fine performance throughout the movie
– but becomes a great one in the film’s closing scenes. Those scenes, details
of which I won’t reveal here, are the type of scenes that normally do not
happen in a thriller of this sort. Normally, once the action climax of the film
has passed, the movie ends – this one extends it beyond that point, and gives
us a view of the shock and trauma we normally never see. It is in these moments
where the full weight of the movie hits us the hardest – and elevates the
entire movie.

Captain
Phillips is an uncommonly complex moral movie. Yes, Captain Phillips is
undeniably a good guy, and the pirates are the “bad guys”, but things are not
that simple. Audiences are conditioned to root for Americans in the movies, and
against the invaders – and some will undoubtedly still do the same thing when
they watch Captain Phillips. And yet, this is not a film where everything is
quite so simple. I am reminded of the moment in Greengrass’ United 93, when he
cuts back and forth between the passengers on the plane praying to God, and the
two hijackers praying to Allah, drawing the similarity between the two of them
– no matter if you’re the “good guy” or the “bad guy” you are praying to God
when the end comes. Captain Phillips takes this link between the two even
farther, making for a much more complex than a typical thriller. If you want a
thriller – than Captain Phillips more than fits the bill – this is one of the
most intense movies of the year. But it is also more than that. Most thrillers,
you forget by the time you hit the parking lot. You won’t be able to shake
Captain Phillips quite that easily.

About Me

I am an accountant, living in Brantford, ON - and although I am married and have beautiful daughter, I still find time to watch a lot of movies. This blog is mostly reviews of new movies - with other musing thrown in as well.